Baseball Tips - 20 Minutes And Out

By Chico Reese

These baseball tips can maybe help you think of ways to keep your baseball training and drills productive in the off-season.

This is especially important for catchers who may have just put in a very long summer season behind the plate. Catchers have a greater number of skills that they need to practice compared to other players on the team. This can be a problem if there is a long layoff between the end of the summer season and the beginning of the High School season. The catchers now have to do a lot of training in a short time to get sharp on the throwing, blocking and footwork skills that catching requires.

It's never too early to start the catching training and drills. The trick is trying to keep a young mind and body motivated for most of the year if this is their only sport. The summer season for our team was long last year. It went right into fall ball. Some of the guys also started a conditioning program. There was not a lot of spare time left for our catchers to practice what they needed to and when I did start with them, there was a quick sense of general fatigue and I could tell the guys were "just not into it". I couldn't blame them.

I initially started getting some of the catchers' time after their conditioning, batting, tee work, etc. Bad news. I next tried to find some time for just catching drills and training...no bats. But with their busy schedule, an hour here and there still was too much. I'd hear stuff like, "You said it would only take a little bit last time and we were still there almost an hour." This in itself was the problem.

Here is the baseball tip for this article…I call this little idea, or training method, "20 Minutes And Out." I used it for catchers but obviously you can adapt the idea to anyone. The whole thing is strictly psychological, and it worked great! All I did was set a time limit…I just picked 20 minutes because I knew that I could get a ton of footwork reps done in 20 minutes. I'd only work one catcher on any given day or night and work only one type of drill in that training session, whether it was some type of footwork, blocking receiving or throwing.

I'd tell them something like, "Look, meet me at the training center and we'll do footwork only, and only for 20 minutes. Guaranteed. Twenty minutes and we're out of there. The thing is, you gotta work hard, be focused, no messing around and we'll get some good work in and leave."

Well at first, some of the catchers didn't believe me. But I did this, stuck to it and the results were great.

Sometimes they didn't even realize how fast 20 minutes would go. They'd be ready to do some more and I'd say, "Five more good ones, and we're done." And sure enough, we'd leave…no matter what. That's the key. Promise 20 minutes and get out. If they think they want to stay longer, don't. Tell them you have things to do.

Here's what I see happened and why I think it worked so well.


The time limit guaranteed an ending, always. That's big to teenagers.

As soon as the catcher saw me sticking to the 20 minute rule, he believed that he would truly be done soon and not only didn't mind going and doing the drills, he actually looked forward to it…all because he knew that it wouldn't drag out.

Since the time limit was relatively small, a catcher would really work hard in those 20 minutes and because of the "believable" guarantee he really didn't mind.



The end results were great because of the focusing on one drill each session. It was always a pretty good, intense workout and yet it wouldn't kill them. One catcher in particular improved his footwork tremendously because that's what we'd do each time. Tons and tons of reps for 20 minutes a shot. He really worked hard and got into it. Consequently, his throwing improved a great deal also.

Think about these baseball tips, try something like this and see what happens. This will make the short workout more enjoyable and at the same time you'll get a lot done. And it's all because of the "20 Minutes and Out", really. It's all psychological. Stick to the 20 minutes, no matter what. You'll be amazed how your players respond and what they can get done. You'll appreciate the short workouts too!


Chico Reese has been closely involved in youth baseball, softball and High School Baseball over the last twelve years and enjoys working with young catchers.

For excellent Catching instruction, drills, training and other valuable baseball tips, consider the following sources:

Catchers Instruction, Training and Tips

http://baseballcatcher.baseballgloverestore.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chico_Reese

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Using Pitching Machines to Improve Hitting at Cal-Berkely

By Chris Gandolfo

David Esquer represents the best in college baseball - first as a player, then as an assistant coach, and finally as head baseball coach at the University of California-Berkley. As a player, Esquer was the starting shortstop on Stanford University's 1987 national championship squad. As an assistant coach with Stanford and Pepperdine, he helped produce six NCAA post season teams and one World Series participant. As Cal's coach, Esquer led the Bears to the program's ninth NCAA regional in 2001 while being named Pacific 10 Conference Coach of the Year in only his second season.

Why did you decide to invest in a pitching machine?

Last year, we really struggled to get runs. We decided to focus on hitting - on getting our average up. We think the feel of a real ball at contact is key in training. At the time, the pitching machine we owned wasn't really effective. It rapidly wore out real leather balls, and they frequently got stuck in the machine. Players were frustrated by the constant interruptions. One of the first things that drew our attention to the Hack Attack was its ability to throw leather baseballs consistently and without any interruptions.

Was that the only reason you purchased a Hack Attack?

No, it was just what first got our attention. As soon as we got one in a cage, we found that many things made it incredibly effective. It's far more accurate, especially with breaking pitches. It also lets you see the ball through the throwing process like live arm motion. Not only did delays due to ball problems disappear, but changing from fastballs to curveballs or left- to right-handed breaking pitches is very easy with the speed control dials and the elevation handle. There is no slow, awkward, complicated process like we used to experience with our unbalanced two-wheel machines. The third wheel on the Hack Attack changes everything.

Exactly how do you use the Hack Attack in your practices?

We now have three Hack Attacks. We set up a hitting station for each one in a circuit that we use daily, including for batting practice on game days. One station is for right- and left-handed curveballs, the second is for fastballs, and the third is where we move the machine up and hit against a short fastball without a stride to improve bat quickness. We just ordered a fourth machine for an additional fastball station with change-of-location. We want one on the field all the time, so we plan to buy a fifth machine for defensive and bunting drills. When we take a machine on the field now, we spend a lot of time on cut-offs, and it has allowed us to double our outfield work. We've never been able to get such quality repetition on hard-to-hit fungo work until now.

The Hack Attack is a solid machine - is it easy to move around?

It is the easiest machine to set up and operate that we've ever used. It moves quickly on and off the field. One player or coach can roll it anywhere. It used to be a struggle to get players to help set up and put away machines. That's no longer a problem, and that is saying something.

What results have you seen from using the Hack Attack?

It has made a measurable improvement in our hitting - more than 40 points over the past two years. We credit much of our improvement to the Hack Attack. We think it's the best investment in our team that we could have made.

Please visit http://www.SportsAttack.com for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Gandolfo

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The BatAction Machine is a great trainer for planned or impulse training.

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The BatAction Baseball Training Machine offers 5 great benefits:

1. The BatAction Machine has a large circle of ball movement - This large path of ball movement allows the batter to see, hit and track the ball before and after each swing. The BatAction ball movement closely simulates live pitching!

2. The BatAction Machine allows the batter to read swing contact. The ball is suspended in mid-air without cables, string, or ropes. This unique patented design allows the ball to react to bat contact much like a real ball. The batter receives instant feedback as to the quality and power of every swing. The batter can immediately read the ball after contact to see if the ball hit was a line drive, ground ball or fly ball. This instant feedback is extremely useful and beneficial to rapid skill improvement and bat speed development.

3. Every swing is a challenge - The BatAction Machine features a moving ball with adjustable speeds. Players really love the challenge and fun of seeing and hitting a moving ball. The harder a player hits the ball, the faster it will return. This ball movement keeps the batter challenged and motivated to practice more and more.

4. The BatAction Machine fast moving ball makes every swing a challenge - The BatAction Machine features a moving ball with adjustable speeds. Players really love the challenge and fun of seeing and hitting a moving ball. The harder a player hits the ball, the faster it will return. This ball movement keeps the batter challenged and motivated to practice more and more.

5. The BatAction Machine is a great trainer for planned or impulse training - The BatAction is often used as a hitting station for team training. It is great for these planned activities. But, one of the benefits that makes it one of the most popular home trainers ever, is the fact that it can be set up as a hitting station in the backyard. This makes the BatAction Machine always available to a hitter for fun and recreational use. These impulse workouts can be done alone, even when Dad or Mom is not at home. This is why the Bat Action Machine is often called the Backyard Basketball Goal for baseball and softball players. It is so much fun to hit that kids spend hours and hours of their free time hitting the fast moving ball. These fun workouts are the reason that BatAction Machine owners are some of the most dominate hitters in the game today.


The BatAction Hitting Machine is the Original Rotational Hitting Machine. The BatAction Machine is a great baseball training device for baseball players of all ages and ability levels. The BatAction Machine has an innovative patented design that has a ball suspended horizontally. This simple design makes learning to hit easy, simple and safe. When a player hits the BatAction Ball, the ball is driven forward and around the machine. The machine then stops the ball and returns it to the player. The horizontal patented design of the machine suspends the ball in mid-air allowing the ball to react to bat contact like a real baseball or softball. The player can hit the ball moving or wait until the ball stops. The batter has ample time between swings to reset and prepare for the next swing. The Bat Action Machine allows the batter work at a comfortable speed and pace. There is no need for another person. The batter has to do nothing but swing the bat. The Bat Action Machine does everything else. These are no balls to gather, no balls to chase and no balls to pick up. There are no levers to press, balls to toss, or pedals to step on. The Bat Action is absolutely 100% energy efficient and it is so much fun to hit! It's no wonder; the Bat Action Machine is one of the most popular and best selling baseball training machines ever!


For more BatAction Hitting Machine drills, tips, and coaching information visit the BatAction Training Blog. Check out the BatAction Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.